Count your blessings

This is important, especially if all kinds of stuff either goes wrong, or takes longer to resolve than should be necessary. So here goes: the weather could not have been better, yesterday and today, for my first commutes into Amsterdam prior to my nine a.m. classes. Dry (not a given AT ALL in this country), not very windy, mostly sunny, and even at seven in the morning pretty mild. The route is just marvelous; today I didn't have to stop once between pushing off in Nederhorst den Berg and my building in downtown Amsterdam. The shower in the health club in the building is warm, and so far they have left my bike alone. The green/yellow Trek stands out a little amid all the classic Amsterdam city bikes, although you see other decent and more modern bikes in our basement. Even though I try to keep the stuff I bring to a minimum, between the street shoes I'm still bringing, a book and some papers, lock and cable, lunch, clothes, etc., there's still too much in my pack for all of it to be comfortably on the seatpost rack (as I discoverd yesterday). So today I divided the weight between the rack and a backpack, which worked much better. Another "blessing": tomorrow they will break open the street in front of our house to repair the cable. With a little luck we will be able to put that headache behind us also. A good thing, because having met most of my students now, there will be lots of work--the two Master's seminars seem to have excellent people. To use Robert Bork's phrase (he used it at the wrong time): it will be an intellectual feast!